Dispute Resolution and International Law: The United Nations Dialogue Among Civilizations

The United Nations Dialogue among Civilizations initiative for the Year 2001 may contribute another dispute resolution technique for the global community. Elements of negotiation, mediation, arbitration, and adjudication and legal principles relevant to dialogue are reviewed. Dialogue, understood as a daily aspect of human interaction on many levels and in many situations, may lead to relationship-building and long-term conflict avoidance. Dialogue leads to learning and understanding other perspectives and may result in wellaccepted resolution of misunderstandings and reduction of conflict. This article suggests that dialogue may be useful for lawyers, arbitrators, and judges as an alternative to other forms of dispute resolution, or for settlement of certain issues within a dispute

Responsibility for Biological Diversity Conservation Under International Law

Professor Tinker begins with a general discussion of biodiversity law within the context of existing international environmental issues and traditional international lawmaking. The article analyzes the legal issues that attend the fulfillment of the objectives of the Biodiversity Convention. The article examines the work of the International Law Commission on state responsibility and liability for environmental harm. The article then explores the precautionary principle and argues that it should be more aggressively applied in order to fulfill the mandate of the Biodiversity Convention

DIPL 3104 Public International Law

This course explores the history and nature of international law and the structure of international institutions as they address particular issues confronting the global community, with a focus on the creation and implementation of international law, global governance, and relations between states and non-state actors. The first part of the course examines the sources of international law; the second part applies this knowledge to particular topics, such as the use of force, human rights, and international environmental law. The course will explore multilateral agreements; treaties; “soft law” resolutions and declarations of the United Nations Security Council, General Assembly, ECOSOC and its working groups and expert committees; and outcome documents of UN conferences on human rights and sustainable development, including the formulation of a new post-2015 sustainable development agenda. The course will explore the roles of state and non-state actors in international law and organizations, including the growing role of the private sector in the United Nations system. By the end of the course, students will possess an understanding of the operation of the international legal system, the difficulties of negotiating and implementing agreements that form its rules, and the role of international law in international affairs. Students will develop critical thinking through an introduction to legal reasoning and concepts in international law. The course requires students to read closely, to think logically, and to become skilled in formulating convincing positions while understanding opposing arguments. Students will apply these legal reasoning skills throughout the course in assignments and class discussion. The ability to think critically and analytically, and to communicate an analysis clearly, are crucial skills not only for lawyers, but for practitioners of diplomacy and for all professionals

DIPL 6015 Human Resources Management in International Organizations

This course explores the history and nature of international institutions as they address particular issues confronting the global community, with a focus on the creation and the meaning of an international civil service at the United Nations. The values and rules of the UN Secretariat will be compared to those applicable to the staff of other international organizations (“IOs”), Secretariats for treaty bodies or other inter-governmental organizations (“IGOs”), and representatives of non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”). Questions to be explored concern the independence of the UN Secretary-General and the Secretariat, their relationship to member states of the UN; the appropriate role of the Secretariat in the creation and implementation of international law and global governance; and the role of the UN Secretary-General and the Secretariat in facilitating relations between states and non-state actors in accordance with the international law on subjects such as international human rights, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts, and sustainable development. How international organizations like the UN system work; what authority exists in the UN Charter or other sources for current management practices; the selection process for staff and leadership roles, including the executive heads of international organizations; and recommendations for reform of the process and the international organization itself

DIPL 6105 Human Resources Management in International Organizations

This course explores the history and nature of international institutions as they address particular issues confronting the global community, with a focus on the creation and the meaning of an international civil service and staff of international organizations (“IOs”), international governmental organizations (“IGOs”), and non-governmental organizations (“NGOs”). Questions to be explored concern the way a secretariat is involved with member states in the creation and implementation of international law, global governance, and relations between states and non-state actors. Other questions consider how international organizations like the UN system work; what authority in the UN Charter exists as the basis of current practices; the selection process for staff and leadership roles, including the executive heads of international organizations; and recommendations for reform of the process

DIPL 3104 Public International Law

This course explores the history and nature of international law and how international law and courts address selected issues currently challenging the global community. The course will focus broadly on the creation and implementation of international law; global governance and diplomacy; and rules or practices in international relations between and among states and between states and non-state actors, including individuals and international or regional organizations. The course introduces and examines the traditional sources of international law and the actors of international law through history and developments up to the present. The creation of international law will be examined through treaties, customary international law, general principles and “soft law” declarations and resolutions. Students will be encouraged to analyze and apply these sources of international law and policy to new global challenges: sustainable development and the triple environmental crises of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution; unequal access to food and scarce water resources; wars of aggression and individual international criminal responsibility; AI and the digital divide; the role of the private sector in public policy and diplomacy; and changing notions of human rights and responsibilities. Students will read cases and materials and engage in class discussions and presentations on how rules developed and are observed between and among states and through courts and international organizations like the United Nations. Students will see how international law claims are raised in national and international courts and tribunals by examining selected cases at the International Court of Justice, international arbitrations and national court decisions based on international law, and how principles of public international law are applied to actual cases

DIPL 6031 International Environmental Policy and Law

This course will address the nature, content and structure of international environmental policy, law and institutions. The course will first familiarize students with the basic sources and principles of international environmental law in treaties, customary law, general principles, soft law and policy documents on international human rights and sustainable development. New topics on the current agenda of the UN such as oceans and biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction will be discussed in depth. Students will see the difficulties in the multicultural environment of the United Nations of negotiation of policies and new international law, the binding or voluntary effect of policies and laws, and the challenge of their implementation, monitoring and compliance. International environmental dispute resolution through arbitration and litigation in international tribunals like the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Law of the Sea Tribunal (ITLOS) and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) will be examined, with monitoring and reporting through UN organizations, specialized agencies, treaty bodies and other institutions. In each of the class sessions, concepts and principles will be analyzed and compared in various treaties, legal cases, and UN documents. Specific topics such as the law of the sea, stratospheric ozone depletion, biodiversity and biosafety, climate change, and transboundary shared rivers and groundwater will be examined in multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs); customary law and policy; declarations and resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly; draft laws from the International Law Commission, ECOSOC and its working groups and expert committees; and outcome documents from UN conferences on sustainable development, including UNCED and Rio +20. The role of state and non-state actors will be examined in addressing the challenges of balancing the three pillars of sustainable development -- economic, social and environmental – and defining international environmental law, policy and institutions

International Environmental Policy

This course will address the nature, content, and structure of international environmental law. The course will first familiarize students with international environmental problems and basic principles of international law and environmental regulation. The course will then take up various specific topics, such as climate change, global warming, loss of biodiversity, stratospheric ozone depletion, trade and environment, and United Nations efforts to stimulate and monitor sustainable development and environmental and social protection. Throughout, the course will apply interdisciplinary tools to help understand the international environmental regulatory system. The course will explore the roles of different actors in that system, as well as the difficulties of negotiating and implementing agreements that form the rules of the system